Shadows of the Past
by SonallyrlzKC
Summary: The story of how Shadow moves to New Mobotropolis and leaves G.U.N. by my storyline. This storyline just came to me while I ate lunch, and I'm writing a different story currently. This does not mean that I will stop writing the other one. Shadamy, Sonally/Sonsal/Sonsally/SonicxSally, Knuxsu, slight Shadouge, slight *shudders* Sonamy. PLZ READ AND REVIEW
1. Urgent

Bzz Bzz Bzzz Bzz

Shadow's hand found its way to the alarm clock and the snooze. He yawned and stretched, staring at the ceiling for a half of a second. Then he rolled over and pulled himself out of bed. Silently, he slipped on his socks, shoes, and gloves. He found his way to the kitchen and prepared himself breakfast. While eating, he turned on his G.U.N. police radio thing and listened for anything interesting. No missions or the like came up, so after he finished his meal he headed out to the firing range. Although he could teleport, Shadow didn't use Chaos Control on a daily basis. Instead, he ran.

He really had nothing to do besides G.U.N. work, and he didn't exactly have a 'social life'. Let's see here… Friends? Rouge, the thief who's working with him at G.U.N. to pay off her past crimes. Omega… Yeah, he's a robot. Hope is an actual friend, but also a co-worker. Commander Tower? His boss. Sonic counts, but he's on a different continent. Blaze is sorta a friend, but she's in an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE. "I must be socially awkward if I can count the number of my friends on my fingers," Shadow sighed. So, he did the normal thing to do if there was nothing else going on. Shoot stuff.

As usual, the target had half of the bullets shot in the same hole on the heart of the silhouetted figure, and the other half in a single hole through the head. After a few targets with the same results, Shadow's wrist communicator beeped. "Finally," He thought.

"Shadow! You copy?" Rouge was on the other end.

"Rouge," She could see his smirk through the sound of his voice.

"It's urgent. Come to HQ now!"

"Roger that."


	2. A Surprise and an Invitation

Shadow teleported to H.Q. "-CONTROL!"

"Shadow!" Rouge ran up to him from the other side of the hall. "Come quickly!" She began to drag him by the ear through one of the doors in the hallway.

"Rouge-!"

"SURPRISE!" As the two entered, a group of people jumped up and waved at Shadow.

"What's going on here? I thought that there was an emergency!" Shadow interrogated Rouge.

"No, that was just a cover to get you here, stupid. I called everyone to come, even Sonic and friends! And I planned it ALL by myself!"

"She is lying! I helped the occasion!" Omega's robotic voice called.

"I still don't understand! What is going on?!" Shadow looked around the room. Sonic, Tails, the F.F., Rouge, Omega, Hope, Commander Tower…

"You honestly don't know?" Rouge asked.

"NO! No, I don't!"

"Oh. Stupid, one year ago today, you joined G.U.N.! And I figured, since we don't really have your D.O.B., you need a day out of the year to celebrate something besides the main holidays! So, here we go! Happy one year anniversary of being in G.U.N.!" Rouge exclaimed.

Shadow facepalmed. "Rouge, I don't need…" He tried, but eventually, after much more nagging from the bat, he finally gave in. "Fine. I still don't see the point of this, but fine."

"There you go! That's my Shadow!" Rouge smiled and pushed some cake in his general direction. "Besides! Without this party, what else would you be doing?!"

Sonic and Rouge had fun teasing Shadow, perhaps too much fun. Tails was intrigued by Omega's, well, everything, and asked him a million questions about his programing and hardware, like: "How do you drink milkshakes? Why don't you short circuit?!" and "Can I look the weaponry in your arms?" Omega was quite happy to show off, I might add. Everyone caught up with Team Dark… Mostly Rouge, that is… And had a good time. Towards the end, Sonic approached Shadow.

"So, uh, Shadow," Sonic started.

"What?"

"We- the Freedom Fighters- were thinking that maybe you could, well, come to New Mobotropolis with us for awhile. Rouge says that there hasn't been much going on with the G.U.N. work, so it would be a perfect time to visit."

"Why would I do that?" Shadow had no intention of coming off as rude, and while to some the sentence might have rubbed them the wrong way, Sonic knew that that was just the way that Shadow spoke.

"Well, you're not exactly… uh… a social butterfly, if you know what I mean. So we just thought that maybe if you stayed in New Mobo for awhile then you might find more of your… I dunno…" Sonic broke off, watching Shadow's frown. Perhaps it was just a frown to show that he was thinking…?

"I suppose I see what you're getting at." Shadow's frown didn't change it's shape, and Sonic could tell that it did not originate from thinking hard. "And why would I want to 'find an inner personality'?"

"You're so- sorry for bein' blunt- stiff and brooding." Sonic decided to just spit it out.

Shadow paused and thought about this. "Still, why would I want to change?"

"I think that… She would want you to." Sonic bit his lip when he mentioned Maria.

"Point… taken…" He got a faraway look in his eyes for a moment. "…Sure, I'll go to New Mobotropolis for awhile," Shadow had no idea where that came from, but he didn't take it back.

"Cool! I'll tell the gang!" Sonic wandered over to his team.

"What are you doing, Shadow?" The ebony hedgehog thought to himself. "Where are you going with this? This isn't about your purpose…" Then another thought entered his mind. "No. It's not about my purpose. It's about my promise."


	3. Broken

[WARNING! THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER IS DEPRESSING!]

I am the Ultimate Life Form. What does that even mean? It would mean that I surpass all other beings. But how can that be true, when every day, ever hour, every minute, every second I am overcome by an intense pain that wrenches my heart. Every day is a battle for me, and every day I lose. The Ultimate Life Form's biggest and hardest battle is to live. To survive. To just keep breathing. More than once I've tried to stop that breathing, to make all of the pain go away. Every day, I am beaten in this constant battle for survival. How Ultimate can I be if sadness, grief, anger, sorrow, and pain defeat me in and own my every breath?!

Her smile. Her laugh. Her soft, sweet voice. I can't go through a single hour without hearing her broken last utterance. "Sayōnara, Shadow the Hedgehog." Her last words. Her last breaths. And I, the grumpy, dark, brooding, anti-hero, breathe on! She, the one who never complained, the cheerful, forgiving, beautiful, practically perfect child, was thieved, stolen of her breath! AND I LIVE ON! She never whined or cried about her disease; not ONCE! SHE WAS ONLY TWELVE! She never complained; and look at me now, rambling on, weeping, free of flesh wound! No bullet found the black fur, sliced through it, passed through the skin, and buried itself inside of me! Instead, it entered hers.

The reason that she died because of me. The raid happened because of me. Because I was a Living Weapon. Not only that, but I didn't even protect her! My purpose was to heal her of her disease, yet I could not, DID NOT save her! I didn't jump in front of her, taking the bullet. I didn't even fight the enemy! I ran, like a coward. Now I must prove myself, because I didn't hold them off while she escaped. I HAVE INHIBITOR RINGS FOR A REASON! Why couldn't I remove them to save her?! Even if the Professor hadn't given me so much power as a tool of revenge yet, I was still capable of great power! G.U.N. didn't raid the Space Colony A.R.K. for nothing! It is MY fault that she is dead. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME! It… should have been me.

They lied to me. Sonic and the others told me that journaling would help. That once I had written the words on paper, my burden would lift slightly. But it's all lies, just like the rest of my life. Like my purpose. I am more in despair now that I have written this all out. I'm going to burn it. Oh, Maria, who am I? What am I? What was my final promise to you? What was your final wish? Will I ever be lifted of this awful burden that hollowed out my black heart and still does? I think that the answer is no. I am broken!

Shadow, tears flowing in a steady river from his eyes, crumbled up the paper and angrily tossed it into the fireplace. He, in a blind rage of darkness, pulled the small lever on the side of it. A flame appeared, and the paper was quickly engulfed in the growing fire. Shadow weeped hopelessly. "This was an awful idea! I-" He couldn't speak, because he was choking on his own sobs. He had been in New Mobotropolis for only a few days, and it was terrible. His chest ached, mentally from the pain of his loss, and physically from the heaving of his body with every tear. He gasped for air, watching his shed tears through burning eyes, which were falling on the flames and sizzling. He thought that he had overcome all of this. But then an awful nightmare that came out of nowhere the first night that he stayed in New Mobotropolis. It made had made him question his true purpose after all. And another nightmare the next night. And the next. And the next. Everything, physical, mental, spiritual, EVERYTHING hurt. "I… Shadow the Hedgehog… Am broken."

[Author's Note: First, I'm sorry if I just depressed your day! Second, if you don't know this, it really wasn't Shadow's fault that Maria died. Yes, technically it was because G.U.N. raided the A.R.K. because of Shadow, but Shadow was created to heal Maria from N.I.D.S. (Neuro-Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). Shadow really couldn't have saved her, it's just his mind messing with him. Or more than his mind… (Spoilers :D) Anyways It wasn't Shadow's fault. I just wanted to make that clear. This was inspired from many songs from Shadow the Hedgehog.]


	4. So Similar, So Different

[This chapter starts the Shadamy. YAY! This chapter isn't as depressing as the last one, by the way.]

Amy laughed. "How is it so hard to understand?!" She had been trying to explain music to Shadow for the past ten minutes.

"I just don't get the point. How is one set of vibrations from a musical instrument more pleasing than another?"

"I dunno. It just IS."

"Hmph."

"You do that a lot, don't you?" Amy noticed.

"Do what?" Shadow was in a stage that was halfway between the world of Mobius and the world of broodingism. [I know, I know, that's not a word. Well, IT IS NOW!]

" 'Hmph.' You 'hmph' constantly." Amy pointed out.

"Yes. It is an expression that shows my indifference of or feeling of distaste for the situation." Shadow explained matter-of-factly.

"Well I KNOW that! I'm just saying that you have too much 'indifference' s and 'feeling of distaste' s." Amy tried to use what Shadow had said in her own sentence, but she ended up sounding uneducated with her awful grammar, although she was not.

"Hmph." Shadow's arms crossed.

"There! You did it again!" Amy exclaimed.

"So?" Shadow was annoyed.

"I was just… nevermind. So, do you wanna hear some music?" Amy offered.

"No." Shadow answered bluntly.

"Ok then…" Amy said. Inwardly, she thought: "Why does even Sonic try? He's a lost cause!"

Shadow was now officially in the world of broodingism. His awful condition of doing so had gotten even worse because of the recent nightmares that had haunted his ever hour. Maria had loved music. She had adored dancing and singing. It was rare to find her not humming a tune as she skipped along. Shadow never understood it fully, but he respected it because Maria liked it so. HAD liked it so. Now, whenever he thought of the concept of music, it just brought him pain. Like most other things.

"Are you just going to stand there doing nothing?" Amy's chipper voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm not doing nothing." Shadow wondered how this little, pink, and very petty hedgehog got him to speak so much. And yes, for Shadow, this was speaking 'much'.

"Well then, what ARE you doing?" Amy prodded.

"Thinking." He almost started to say 'brooding'. "Darn you, Rouge," He thought.

"Oh. I've been thinking a lot more lately, too."

Shadow was surprised to hear this. He didn't expect a girl like her to have deep thoughts. Her whole life was built around her neverending crush on the Blue Hedgehog, which is why he thought of her as petty. But… more interestingly, how did she know that he was thinking more lately? Shadow looked more closely at the girl now. Outwardly, she was seventeen. But inwardly, she looked less mature yet more mature at the same time. Less mature because she was only eleven- one year younger than SHE was- yet somehow even more mature than your average seventeen-year-old, like the rest of the F.F. Her body was physically a different age than the years she had lived, like Shadow. Except that she was younger, and he was older.

In her eyes he saw, behind a mask of a chipper spirit, fear and loss and sadness. Just like SHE had had. Although Maria's happiness hadn't been as faked as Amy's was now, it was the same look. Maria was so happy, almost always smiling. But under there was a tiny, fearful girl who was so much smaller than the situation that faced her. The reason that Shadow had been created was to let her no longer have to deal with that fear. Yet Project:Shadow was the reason that she died in the end. Somehow, Amy had that look of sadness behind her emerald green eyes.

Then Shadow knew why. It was a month until Sonic and Princess Sally were to be married. While outside, Amy pretended to be thrilled for them, internally, she was not. If she hated Sally, it would be easier. But because she loved Sally as a sister and was so close to her, the circumstances were even worse. She had always said that Sonic would be hers eventually, but she wanted him to be happy. And that Sally brought him happiness. [Paraphrased from STH 222]

But now it was different. They weren't supposed to be SO happy. He wasn't supposed to purpose. Amy was broken, like Shadow, but in a different way. Both over love, but so, so different. Shadow loved Maria as a friend, a sister, his only friend, his only sister. Amy loved Sonic in a different way. But even that she wasn't even so sure about any more.

Amy's bottom lip quivered for a half of a second, and then immediately stopped. Shadow felt a new feeling. A feeling that felt foreign, a feeling that he didn't like so much. What was it? He thought about everything that he knew about emotions. Was it… pity? Because, in a way, they were the same. Pity, because they could relate to each other in a way. They both lost a close loved one… Shadow stopped himself and inwardly scoffed at the idea. They were nothing alike. She was sad because her crush had been stomped on. He was in pain because the only person in the universe that he had ever truly loved was dead because of him. Nothing alike; nothing alike.

"Here… just lemme show you a little bit of music." Amy's voice was quieter now, less petty with a fake grin. Sounding more sweet and caring. More sad internally, and so, so mature. More like Maria…

"FINE! Er… Fine. Why not?" Shadow, hating this feeling of pity, felt sorry for barking at her. And he hated that, too. Why must he feel sorry?! There's no reason to feel pity, understanding, or regret. Yet there they were.

"O… k." Amy almost whispered. Shadow expected, when Amy went over to the computer, to hear some sort of bubbly dance music for ten-year-old fangirls. Something like what he had heard to be called 'bubblegum music.' But, to his surprise, it was not. It started out slow, soft, sad. "Meh." he thought.

Then it started to speed up, to rock. Shadow almost found his head beginning to move to the music. And suddenly he understood why music was such a loved thing among the other inhabitants of this planet. It made him feel… lifted of burden, somehow. When listening, he seemed to not feel as awful about his life. He felt like someone else. Yet, at the same time, he wished that he could be the person who sang this song. And here's why:

Well, now I'll never turn back, I'll never turn back

I'll never turn that way

No matter how life tries to face me

I'll turn the other way

Now and then, now and then

My head starts to spin, starts to spin

But I'll never turn back again

No! No!

From this moment on, moment on

I am moving on, moving on

And I'll never turn back

No!

[Never Turn Back, by Crush 40. Ending theme to Shadow the Hedgehog]

He wished so much that he could turn the other way! But, no, he couldn't.

She wished so much that she could turn the other way! But, no, she couldn't.

He had promised Maria.

She had promised herself.

Could they, would they, ever turn the other way?


	5. Familiar Face

[Sorry this took me forever and a day to write and publish! Had a lot going on! Thanks you for your patience! Don't forget to R&R. Even if you don't have much to say, it's still nice to know that you're reading. Whew! Ok! Long-awaited Chapter Five!]

During the next few days, Shadow's nightmares did not subside. If anything, their intensities worsened. But he kept going, as we all must. He found the music to help quite a bit, which surprised him. Amy had given him an iPod so he could listen to tunes whenever he wanted. [Or… not an iPod… Whatever their version is called on Mobius… Ima just call it an iPod for now…]

Life trudged on. The days grew closer to Sonic and Sally's wedding, and Amy was becoming more and more restless; Shadow could tell. He realized, as he peered outside the window one morning, that he had spent the most of his time here with Amy. He found another new word that he had never had a use for before. That word was fond. Yes, he had become fond of the pink hedgehog. One word; one question. Why? Ah, well. Doesn't matter.

Shadow was doing his normal brooding thing. The usual. An ordinary day. Yet something seemed OFF. He continued to stare out the window, attempting to ignore the uneasy feeling. The door opened, and Amy came bounding in. He couldn't go through a day without her coming up out of nowhere and asking him pointless questions.

"Shadow? You in here?" She asked.

He sighed. "Yes. What is it?"

"I, um…" The pink hedgehog suddenly found that she had no reason for speaking with Shadow. Usually, she was able to conjure up some excuse, but now her mind drew a blank.

"Spit it out, then."

"I… wanted to just talk. To… spend time with you." Amy hoped that he wouldn't tell her to leave if she had no real reason to 'waste his time'.

"Hmph." Then Shadow paused. "Why?"

"Because I like talking with you." Amy looked down and played with the toe of her boot.

Again, Shadow wanted to ask why. He wasn't exactly social; they both knew that. Instead, he decided to let her speak. He actually didn't mind her voice too much. It was pleasant. "…What do you wish to… talk... about?"

Amy was surprised at this. Not only had he let her stay, he had prompted her to speak! "I… Well… Um... What have you done today?"

Woke up early from nightmares. Brooded. Tried to sleep, but couldn't. Brooded a little. Ate breakfast. Brooded more. Listened to music. Bit more brooding. Ate lunch. Did I mention brooding? "Not much." He responded.

"Oh. My morning was very busy. I…" She began to give a very detailed description of her day.

So the two talked. Amy even made Shadow smirk! This, she thought, was a success. Although talking with Amy distracted him slightly, the strange feeling of discomfort stayed. Shadow got slight chills up his spine and had the impulse to turn around. He did so, and quickly at that. What he saw startled him. He would recognize the sight anywhere. "YOU!" He exclaimed.

"What is it Shadow? What's wrong?" Amy followed his gaze and gasped. Whatever it was, it was extremely creepy, and was most definitely evil. "What… what IS that?"

Shadow stared at it in disbelief. "But that's impossible! It shouldn't- it CAN'T be here! It's extinct! It's- It's a Doom's Eye!"


	6. Meet your Death (not Doom)

"Wh-what's a Doom's Eye?" Amy stuttered.

"How are you here?!" Shadow's two eyes stared into Doom's one. It didn't move. "Why now? IF you survived, then why did you wait until now to reappear?"

"Shadow, what IS it?!"

"How are you alive? I destroyed you with my own two hands! I saw you die! HOW?! How did you survive?!" He demanded. "ANSWER ME!"

But the creature only floated in place. Shadow attacked it, questioned it, tried everything that he could think of, but the beast only watched him. Amy eventually gave up in the field of asking the black hedgehog about the similar-to-Shadow-colored six-armed… thing. Instead, she watched him slowly walk in circles around it, literally poking at it. The Eye would turn around and watch him, which lead to a staring contest between the two. Amy decided to get some to help, but when she turned and began to walk forwards, an invisible forcefield zapped her hand.

"Ouch!" Her yelp made Shadow turn from the beast.

"What?"

"There's… There's some sort of an invisible barrier. I can't walk past this spot. It also hurts to try." She explained. Shadow made an attempt, but had to pull his hand back quickly from pain.

"Undoubtably Black Doom's doing." He declared, turning back to question the creature further. Unfortunately, they had not noticed the small flash of light a half of a second before. It was gone.

"Where-?" Amy began.

"Chaos Control." Shadow, although stating the words calmly, slammed his fist against the wall. Normally, the hole he created would've been rebuilt by the Nanites after a few seconds, but for some reason this did not occur.

"What's wrong with the Nanites? Why won't they rebuild the wall?" Amy's hand found its way to the opening, but the forcefield zapped her once she began to reach through.

"Doom's barrier is blocking Nicole's abilities." Shadow nodded when Amy pulled back her hand quickly. "I don't know what's going on yet, but I will. Rose, don't do anything stupid like try to get through the forcefield. I'll be back shortly if I don't find anything."

"But you can't just LEAVE! Besides, won't the 'field blow you to bits if you try to use Chaos to teleport?" Amy put her hand on his arm.

Shadow flinched and pulled it away quickly. "Not necessarily. If I'm correct, this forcefield will let any Black Arms teleport through it. I have their blood. It should let me through."

"But if it doesn't?" Amy looked down, half from her question and half because he had pulled away from her.

"Then I'll be momentarily in great pain, but will bounce back inside."

"Do you have to?" She bit her lip.

"I'm going to go anyways, if that's what you're asking." Shadow turned.

"Ok, then…" She paused. "And… be safe…"

"I…" Shadow was caught off guard, although he didn't know why. "I have no control over that."

"I know, I just… Don't want you to get hurt." Amy turned.

"I'm the Ultimate Life Form. I'll be FINE." Shadow said. Internally, he thought: "I'll survive. I always survive. That's how I'm cursed. No matter what, I always seem to live on."

The pink hedgehog had turned to avoid Shadow seeing her tears. She quickly wiped them away and looked back at him. Her eyes stared into his. He frowned, and his arms crossed. His blood red eyes seemed to peer at her coldly. But she knew that his thoughts did not reflect that feeling. It was just a mask. What was behind the cold? The blizzard? What was he really thinking? What were his true feelings?

Shadow began to tap into the Chaos energy, even though he had no Emerald. "I should be able to teleport far enough without an Emerald…"

Amy wrung her hands. "What are you so worried about?" She asked herself silently. Yet she had no answer.

"CHAOS- CONTROL!" He yelled.

"Argh-!" There was a loud sound of electricity crackling, and with a a large zap, Shadow appeared again, looking… well… FRAZZLED doesn't QUITE describe it…

"SHADOW!" Amy ran over to him.

Shadow breathed heavily, and coughed a little bit. "Need… Emerald….. not… enough… power…"

"No! Even if we DID have an Emerald, which we don't, I wouldn't let you use it! There was more energy in that 'field than you told me! I had a right to be worried!" Amy exclaimed.

Shadow slowly pulled himself up using Amy's supporting arm. "I didn't… N-nevermind. Doesn't… matter. Now… we need to… find out what's going on… from a different… different perspective." He was no longer gasping for air, but was clearly shaken and in need of slightly more oxygen then he was breathing in.

"You just tried to waltz through a forcefield that's a bajillion times stronger than you! Can't you wait five minutes to recharge before you start your detective work again?!" Amy was worried about him, but it came out as anger. "You should've listened to me!"

Shadow smirked for a second, but then his face became grave. "You're… wrong on that one. I momentarily….. momentarily tapped into the hivemind. It's… not Black Doom. I don't under… understand it all yet, but it's… it's not Black Doom. I really did destroy him. It… HE… was a lesser hive leader. A secondary commander."

"Who was?" Amy had mellowed a bit.

"His… his name is… Black Death. It wasn't DOOM'S Eye that we en… c-countered, it was DEATH'S Eye!"

[Black Death is NOT an OC! Check out the current Sonic Universe issues 59-62! #plug4ArchieSonic]


	7. Let the Games Begin

"Run, Shadow! Quickly!" Maria sounded more afraid than Shadow had ever heard her before. And he hated it.

"I'm going as fast as I can! C'mon, let's head for the capsules! We can escape that way!" Shadow tugged on her hand.

"OK!" She nodded. "…And Shadow?"

"Yes?" He kept running, but turned to listen to her.

"I…" She blinked, and gentle tears ran down her red cheeks.

"Don't cry, Maria! We're almost there! We're gonna be OK! The capsule is in sight!" Shadow attempted to wipe away her tears as they sprinted. "Just smile for me, 'K?" He gave her a sweet smile for encouragement. Maria's dimples appeared. It gave Shadow what he needed; he seemed to get an extra boost of speed.

"THEY'RE ESCAPING!" Soldiers yelled behind them. "Hold it! G. U. N. command orders you to stop!"

Shadow ignored them, and started to turn to the controls for the capsule. Maria saw, to her horror, one of the troopers' guns pointed directly at the ebony hedgehog. "NO!" She cried. There was only one thing that she knew to do. And that was to push him out of the way. Shadow heard Maria's cry, but was too late. He began to turn, and was pushed into the tube. "Ah-!" The young Overlander grabbed her side.

"MARIA!" Shadow screamed, but the door closed and locked. He banged his fists against it, but his kicks did no damage.

She, fighting back tears, smiled at him. "Sh-Shadow…" Her hands attempted to cover the wound, but blood seeped through the cracks inbetween her fingers. "Please…"

All Shadow could do was scream her name. "…For all of the people… on the planet… Do it for me…" Her hand reached up to the control panel. The switches were smeared with red. Her tender fingers found the launch button. "Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…"

"SHADOW! SHADOW! WHAT'S HAPPENING?! SHADOW?!" Everything was fuzzy. Shadow felt hands atop his shoulders, shaking him. "Ma… Maria…?" He whispered.

"SHADOW! You're AWAKE! Are you… were you…?" The voice broke off.

"Am… y? Wha…?" He blinked a few times, and the picture became clear. "Stupid… stupid… STUPID!" He jumped up.

"What?! Who's stupid?! Shadow, what HAPPENED?!" Amy begged for any response.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID HEDGEHOG!" Shadow kicked himself.

"SHADOW! WHAT. HAPPENED?!" Amy grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look her in the eye. "You were explaining Black Death to me, and all of a sudden you passed out on the floor. Please tell me WHAT on MOBIUS is going on!"

"Amy… I've been… naive." Shadow started, thinking of the vision he had just experienced. In the background… right behind HER… out in space… had been…

"…Naive?" The pink hedgehog tried to think back to a time when Shadow had looked her in the eyes and called her 'Amy'.

"It all makes sense now. About a week ago, I started getting vivid dreams. Dreams that were so real… I could smell, I could taste, I could FEEL… Some of the dreams were of things that I've lived through, which I suppose could explain the senses, but others… others weren't events that had happened. Yet I could control what I did. Almost like real life, but as if everything is blurry and out of your control. But now that I think back to them… Each one had something in common. True events or not, at some point in the vision, somewhere in the background, was the Doom- er- DEATH'S Eye. I didn't notice them at the time, but now I remember them clearly. They weren't dreams that my head had conjured up. Black Death has been creating them this whole time!"

"…Wow… He can DO that?" Amy was stunned.

"Yes. I think that he's been using some sort of pocket zone to-" Suddenly, before Shadow could finish, he collapsed to the ground, just like he had before.

"SHADOW! Oh, no, not AGAIN!" Amy knelt beside him, shaking him and screaming in his ear to wake up.

"So, you've figured out my little secret, have you?" A dark voice murmured. Shadow moaned slightly. "Oh, sorry about that. You have a… small connection to the real world. I couldn't get you sitting nicely before I knocked you out, so… Well, you're going to have a small headache tomorrow."

Shadow smirked, and coughed a little. "Sorry, eh?"

"It always pains me when a…" Black Death paused, thinking of the right word. "… brother is in discomfort."

Shadow's head snapped towards the direction of the voice. "I'm sorry, did you just call me a 'brother'?"

"Indeed. We are almost extinct, thanks to you and the Xorda. I would hate to loose another of my blood, my son." Death replied.

Shadow's posture stiffened, his hands went into fists, and he readied himself to tap into the Chaos Force. "Don't… you… DARE... call me that."

"Well, I suppose we ARE more of brothers than father and son."

Shadow lunged for the silhouette, Chaos Spear in hand. "OH, THAT'S IT!" But when he began to throw, a gray three-fingered hand grabbed it and absorbed the energy.

"Please, don't waste your time. I created this dimension. I control it. You're lucky that I'm patient; at any point, I can turn up your Inhibitor Rings high enough to take away all of your energy, or I could absorb all of it myself. I could disintegrate you… There are so many ways I could delete you from all universes permanently, I can't count them all." He had been levitating the hedgehog, but now dropped him.

Pulling a 'Blue Hedgehog', Shadow spat, "The fact that you can't count doesn't surprise me."

"You have some NERVE, hedgehog!"

"What, not calling me family anymore?" Shadow smirked. "I know that you're just trying to toy with me. But you won't kill me; not yet. You want me to turn to your side. You can say it's because you care about me, or want my powers, or whatever you want, but I know the REAL reason. You're just scared of me! I defeated the greatest of all the Black Arms. You're NOTHING!"

"You speak too soon. I can see that you aren't ready to join me yet, but I'll change that. From now on, you won't be able to tell what's dream and what's reality. I must remind you that if you die in one universe, you will die in the other. Your challenge is to survive… And, I guarantee, if you survive, then by the end you will want to join me." Black Death crossed his arms.

"We'll see about that!" Shadow copied Death's movement and crossed HIS arms.

"Very well. If you'll play, then let the Mind Games begin!"


	8. Just a Dream

"Hrrgh…" Shadow pulled himself up, wiping his mouth. Glancing down at his glove, the 'saliva' he had coughed up was crimson red. "Hmph." He turned back to his enemy.

"You will PERISH!" Doom shot a countless amount of Chaos Spears at Shadow, who effortlessly spindashed them all.

"You're pulling your punches. You know I won't join you. So what are you hiding?!" Shadow glared.

"Nothing." Immediately, Black Doom disappeared with roaring laughter.

"Wha-? Where?!" Shadow turned around, and met a mirror. To his left, more mirrors. In a complete circle, nothing but mirrors. But when he made another turn, two of them turned outwards like a door, into a hall of mirrors. The floor, the ceiling… everything that Shadow saw was his reflection.

"Coward! COME AND FIGHT ME!" He began to run down the hall, but forgot that the floor was made of reflective glass. One shattered, and the hedgehog had to catch on to the frame of another to avoid falling. Under the mirror was nothing but endless black oblivion. An oblivion that seemed to pull Shadow in like a black hole. "So, you want me to walk, eh?" He pulled himself up and began to WALK down the seemingly never-ending hall.

As he walked, he noticed something that he wouldn't have if he was still running. Squinting at his reflections, he found that some did not exactly follow his motions. Shadow grunted, and folded his arms. His reflection did the same. Shadow considered Chaos-Spear-to-crazy-mirror, but thought of what had happened when the floor had broken and decided against it. Instead, he kept walking. One of his reflections made a finger gun and shot at him with it. This surprised Shadow, because it was nothing like his personality, and he expected these strange other versions of him to at least share his persona. Then it all made sense when real bullets came from the mirror and grazed his arms.

All of sudden, the mirrors shattered in a wave; and that wave was headed for Shadow. Flamethrowers, guns of many different sizes and functions, swords, axes, maces, needles, gases, and a million other things that even SHADOW didn't know the name of were shoved through the top, sides, and bottom of the room. The main problem was that the ceiling was too low and the hall was too narrow, so Shadow had very little room to dodge and move forwards at the same time.

He was able to get himself in a position where he was flying forwards using his jet shoes, so he wasn't touching the ceiling, the sides, or the floor. Although Shadow wasn't so sure that the ceiling was really the ceiling, or if it was a floor. Or the right or the left. As if on cue, the gravity itself began to spin around. Another problem was that when the reflections shot their weapons at Shadow, they shattered the mirrors. And when the mirrors were no longer in place, they pulled Shadow in. Also, the attacks had no pattern; they were thrown out randomly, although they almost always seemed to be very close to Shadow when that happened.

His reflections chattered and cackled. Some began to taunt him. "Oh, Shadey, don't be scared! We only want to give you more scars!" Shadow cursed them, yet they only seemed to increase in number, and only taunted louder. The hall seemed never-ending, and he was beginning to suspect that it was. "Make it stop…" He found himself slowing down, and the pain of the many wounds that he was taking just seemed to numb and disappear. He gasped and grabbed for breaths, and felt so drowsy that he just wanted to stop everything. Breathing, numbness, any sensations at all… Just sleep… Eternal sleep… He wasn't even sure where he was or what he was doing anymore. But he still heard those voices, and felt small pokes from their weapons.

"Ssshhaddeeeeyyy….. Don't you want to play our little gammmmee?" The creatures wondered.

Game… That word stuck in Shadow's brain. "G-game…?" He blinked open his eyes a bit. "G-g-game…! Game! GAME!" The word seemed to give him strength. "It's all just a game! A crazy MIND GAME!"

Suddenly, everything seemed to disintegrate, like Shadow's realization that it was just a dream had crumbled it. There were no more black holes, no more crazy reflections. It was just a dream. All of it was just a dream…


	9. Mind Games

"Run, Shadow! Hurry!" Maria sounded more afraid than Shadow had ever heard her before. And he loathed it.

"I'm going as fast as I can! C'mon, let's head for the capsules! We can get outta here that way!" Shadow tugged on her hand.

"OK!" She nodded. "…And Shadow?"

"Yes?" He kept running, but turned to listen to her.

"I…" She blinked, and gentle tears escaped her puffy eyes and ran down her red cheeks.

"Don't cry, Maria! We're almost there! We're gonna be fine! The room is in sight now!" Shadow attempted to wipe away her tears as they sprinted. "Just smile for me, OK?" He gave her a sweet smile for encouragement. Maria's dimples appeared. It gave Shadow what he needed; he seemed to get an extra boost of speed.

"THEY'RE ESCAPING!" Soldiers yelled behind them. "Hold it! I order you to stop! G. U. N. commands!"

Shadow ignored them, and started to turn to the controls for the capsule. Maria saw one of the troopers' guns pointed directly at the black hedgehog. "NO!" She cried. There was only one thing that she knew to do. And that was to push him out of the way. Shadow heard Maria's cry, and realized in a split second what she was going to do. All he had time to do was push back.

"Ahh…" Shadow gasped, reaching for his side. The Space Colony began to spin around him, and he grasped Maria's arm for support. There was so much blood…

"SHADOW!" Maria shrieked. Immediately, she shoved him into the capsule and began messing with its controls. She eventually discovered the right switch, and pulled it, lunging for the capsule and making it inside just in time.

"Shadow…" Maria ripped off a part off her sleeve and wrapped the cloth around Shadow's wound.

"Hrrrgh…" He was pretty sure that that was Maria, although his eyes hurt when they opened. He was losing sensation in most of his limbs, and his vision was blurring. "Ma… ria…"

"Yes, Shadow? What is it? Anything!" She squeezed his hand, but it didn't squeeze back.

"I…" He coughed, and the world blurred even more.

"Shadow, you're loosing to much blood, I don't think that-" She broke off, trying not to cry for Shadow's sake.

"Maria…" His hand fell altogether, and his eyes shut.

"NO! Shadow!" Maria screamed, throwing her arms around him sobbing. Then she realized; he might not be dead. Immediately, she checked for a pulse. It took her a moment to detect it, but it was there, however faint.

"Oh, Shadow, hang in there! Once we reach the planet, we'll fix you up alright!" She whispered now. "Don't worry, Shadow. Don't worry…"

"…Huh…?" He blinked a few times, and eyes opened slowly. The first thing he saw was surprising to him. He was just with… but recognized her… And it all came flooding back. Again. He knew it had been only a dream. Again. "Amy…? What are you doing here?"

"Shadow! You're awake!" Amy grinned. "Oh, I was beginning to think that he had control over you! But now you're back, and that's all that matters."

"But…" Shadow shook his head and looked around. Certainly SEEMED like the room he and Amy had been locked in in Mobotropolis. "Why did he…? I've only seen two or three dreams. Er… I think. They're slipping away now… But; why did he let me out of them? He swore that he would put me through dream scenarios until I gave in and worked for him, or died. Neither has happened, but it doesn't SEEM like it's been that long…"

"Huh. Oh, well. I suppose… Well, doesn't matter what I suppose. So… what's our next move?" Amy questioned.

"I… dunno. I guess we wait until Death reappears." Shadow folded his arms. And there they sat, for what at least FELT like hours. The only clock in the room was broken, so they had no way of telling time. At first, they didn't say anything. But after awhile, Amy was going stir crazy.

"What's he trying to do; BORE us to 'Death'?!" Amy stomped the ground with her foot.

"Maybe." Shadow was thoughtful.

"Well, he's doing a great job of it. To me, anyways. And I'm bored out of my MIND!" Amy exclaimed.

"Hmm. What do you normally do when you're in a situation like this?" Shadow asked.

"Whadduya mean?" Amy wondered.

"You've NEVER been on a stake-out or the like and have to sit there for hours with nothing to do?" Shadow smirked.

"Oh! Well, THEN I have Sonic! He's great at telling jokes, and just LOOKING at him reminds me of so many memories, I just… How CAN you be bored when you're with Sonic?!" Amy looked up dreamily.

Shadow felt another new sensation; found another word that he previously had had no use for. This one he DIDN'T like. The word he was looking for was… NO… It couldn't be THAT. Shadow would NEVER be JEALOUS over Amy's feelings for Sonic. Naw… It was just the jitters of thinking that he was going to randomly pop up in some other dream and have to repeat the same process all over again: survive, remember, repeat. Yeah, that was it. Surely.

"Hm, and I'm not nearly as entertaining?" Shadow asked.

"Well… I guess… Er… I don't… I didn't mean…" Amy stammered.

"I know. So, anything besides that?" Shadow moved on quickly, to Amy's relief.

"Um…" She blushed, not remembering anything but Sonic's facial features from the time that they had been on stake-outs. It had not been boring at all to her, because Sonic was there. "I… OH! They- I mean WE- would sometimes play little games. Stupid little kids' ones, like iSpy, but with a fun twist, like… In Robotropolis, it can't be anything metal. Which was impossible, I might add. Only Sonic was able to find something to do for that one. And y'know what 'it' was? Sally! But, yeah, stuff like that."

"Hmm." Shadow looked up at the ceiling.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, OK." Amy turned around and heaved a big sigh. "This is boring."

"Find something to make it NOT BORING, then." Shadow's eyes darted around the room, and Amy knew that he was searching for any signs of Black Death besides the forcefield that was holding them in.

"OK. Um…" Amy's eyes also danced across the fenced-in area, but for entirely different reasons. Like entertainment. There was nothing to do, so she took it from a different standpoint. She began to sing. Some of the lines seemed to stick to Shadow:

To the pressure, everything's just like, An illusion, I'll be losing you, before long...

[Supporting Me, Bio Lizard theme, Sonic Adventure 2]

"That was…" Shadow paused, trying to find the right word. "…Beautiful."

Amy blushed. "Oh, thank you. It's an interesting song, and I'm no Mina, but I CAN sing."

"Very well, I might add." Shadow did something fantastic. In that moment… Not a smirk, not mockery… A real, genuine SMILE spread across Shadow's face.

"I…" Amy was shocked, by both his comments and his expression (which faded, naturally).

"What?" His usual expressionless frown returned.

"Nothing…" Amy smiled to herself.

"Oh. OK." Shadow turned, and let out a breath. "What is he up to? Why has he left us here, dream-free? What am I missing? AM I missing something?"

"Maybe-" Amy began.

"You REALLY think that you're alone? You REALLY believe that it's not a dream?" A demonic voice whispered.

"He was here!" Shadow breathed. "He IS here. He's just a coward is all."

"What? Who?" Amy asked.

"Did you not hear-?" Shadow bought about what he had said, and it hit him. "This is all a dream! None of this is real! Amy, you're not the real Amy! You're just one of the nightmares!"

"Wh-what…? Shadow, how could… But it's ME, Amy, I-" She looked at him in the way that Maria used to, and he stopped.

"No… no… You really ARE real! In that case…" Shadow realized something. "Every time a dream ends, its contents are erased! And if Death was telling the truth when he said that if I died in one world than I died in both… AMY! Grab my hand!"

"Oh-OK!" She did so as the room began to fade.

"Please let this work…" Shadow murmured.

"What's going on, Shadow? Why is it all fading white? Where are we? Shadow?" Amy found herself floating away. No, being sucked away, more like. Looking behind herself, she saw black nothingness and the room being pulled inside to it. And that's where she was headed. "AAAaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…" She screamed. Then she stopped short as her body did.

"I gotcha!" It was Shadow's voice, but she could't see him. All she saw was the void of black. Then everything seemed to rewind, and she was back; with Shadow. Suddenly, it all sucked down into black, and reappeared but with a different background.

"Where are we now? And why do I remember the previous dreams?" Shadow was immediately ready for action.

"Why is it so c-cold…?" Amy saw that they were in a snowy environment, but based on how rapidly her body temperature dropped, she knew that this was no ordinary tundra.

"I think it's safe to say that it's FREEZING outside!" Shadow began to rub his hands over his arms in an attempt to warm them.

"Yeah!" Amy gave a breathy laugh. "Brr… If this goes on much longer, we'll be ice cubes!"

"LITERALLY." Shadow added. "What is the point of this dream? I don't see how putting us in an oversized refrigerator is some sort of nightmare."

"You're starting to sound like Sonic!" Amy wished desperately for a jacket.

"Now I see why it's a nightmare!" Shadow exclaimed. Amy laughed.

"Soo… cold…" Amy was pretty sure that they were way down in the negatives.

"Y-yeah…" Even Shadow's teeth were chattering.

"I h-hear th-that p-p-penguins get r-really close to-together to k-keep w-warm," Amy saw a tear escape her eye because of the sharp, howling wind, and it turned into an ice cube by the time it hit the ground.

"S-sounds g-good to me." So Shadow and Amy got as close to each other as necessary and attempted to trudge through the snow to find shelter...


	10. Illusions

"Sh-Shadow?" Amy's teeth chattered.

"Yes?"

"I- are w-we gonn-nna survive th-th-this…?"

"I… d-don't know." Shadow stammered. There was only one other time that he had had this conversation. Last time, he promised. Now, he couldn't.

"It's j-just so c-c-cold…" She was too tired to cry.

"I kn-know…" They were huddled so close, but it was no use anymore. [IT'S NO USE!] The cold was overpowering them. Shadow attempted for the umpteenth time to start a fire with Chaos, but it didn't work.

"Amy…"

"Y-yeah, Shad-d-dow?"

"I- I'm sorry."

"Why?!" Amy turned and looked up at him.

"You're… gonna freeze… 'cause of me…" There was only one other time that someone he cared about had died because of him.

"N-no, it's not your f-fault… A-a-and I'm not gonna die alone." Her voice seemed to strengthen and weaken at the same time.

And that was the difference. This time, Shadow would be with her. His one wish had been for them to be together, even if he had to be with her to the death. His wish was being granted, just not with Maria. "I…" Shadow caught himself. He blamed the cold, but his bottom lip trembled slightly.

"Hey…" Amy gave a weak smile. "Just smile for me, 'K?"

"AMY!" Shadow bolted upright. He was in a room with nothing but black. Again. "Where… Amy…?" He looked around frantically. This time, he knew that he was holding her. How could she not have come back with him? To his relief, he heard a slight moan from somewhere else in the room.

"Shadow…?"

"AMY!" He rushed to her. "You're ok?"

"Y-yeah… just… shaken." She held her head.

"OK." He shook his own head and stood up, turning his priorities to the enemy. "WHAT NOW?!" He screamed into the oblivion. "WHAT NOW?!" He began to walk around. "WHAT NEXT?! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TORTURE ME WITH NOW?! WHAT MEMORY?! WHAT SICK STORY?! WHAT?!"

"SHAD-! Mmph…" Amy began to scream his name, but her mouth was covered from behind and she was pulled into the shadows.

"Amy; NO-" Shadow turned around and reached out his hand. He was determined to keep her alive, no matter what. It was his problem, but this time he would fix it. So he lunged into the darkness. "Give her BACK!" He shot Chaos Spears at any movement in the shade. "Amy?"

"Shadow!" She exclaimed, running back out from dark. "I'm OK! I'm here!" Then another Amy, looking exactly the same, came out from a different area.

"Shadow! Don't listen to her! It's me! I'M Amy!" And another, and another.

"SHADOW!" Many different Amys cried.

"Wha-?" Shadow looked from one to the other. They looked exactly the same. Same voice, same clothing, same enchanting emerald eyes.

"Shadow…." An all-to-familiar and infamous voice whispered. "Find the real one; or lose her forever."

"Black Death-!" Shadow stopped. "Fine, I'll play your little GAME." He walked from one Amy to the next. They were all identical. "Maybe," He thought, "I need to look for character, not appearance. 'It's the inside that counts', she told me once."

"Darnit!" Shadow looked from one to the next, listening to what they said… Identical. Absolutely identical.

"Shadow?" One looked at him. "It's me. It's Amy. Don't you recognize me?"

"You're the same as all of the other Amys. I CAN'T recognize you." He spat.

"You… you mean I'm not unique?" She looked offended, and Shadow knew that it wasn't HIS Amy.

"Shadow! It's me, you idiot!" Nope.

"Am I no different? Am I not special?" Nope.

"Why won't you listen?!" Nope.

"I'M the REAL Amy." Nope.

"SONIC would've figured it out by now!" That one stung for some reason. "Jealous," the thought popped into his head. NO.

"It's me! It's ME! ME ME ME ME ME! TURN AROUND ALREADY!" Nuh-uh.

"Wait-stop-moving-it's-me-Shadow-I-swear-I'm-the-real-Amy!" Nada.

"Time's running out." Death's voice was almost singsongy as the many Amys began to disappear one at a time in random places.

"SHAAAAAADOOOOOWWWW! HEEEELP MEEEEEEEE!" No. Every single one that he met was a no. No, no, no, no, NO!

"Shadow, please wait." N- wait, what? Shadow turned.

"I… There's no way that I can prove that I'm the real Amy… So I guess you can just keep walking… except…" Her face lit up. "To the pressure, everything's just like, an illusion, I'll be losing you, before long…" She sang.

"Th-that's it!" Shadow didn't even notice how the lyrics matched his situation. He just jumped and grabbed Amy's arm as Death's timer ran out.

"Time's up! That is, in more ways than one…" Then he saw. "NO! How did you-" All of the other Amys disappeared.

"Nice try. Shadow can see through all of your tricks! It'd be best for us all if you just gave up now!" Amy wagged her finger at the area that the voice was coming from.

"Hmm hmm hmm… No, I don't think so. I've got some more fun in store for Shadow." Amy wrapped her arm around the other hedgehog's furry black one, as if that could protect him from any of Black Death's power.

"Don't you DARE touch him! If you DO, then you'll have to meet with ME first!" She threatened.

"Amy, don't-" Shadow started.

"My, you're a feisty one." Death suddenly appeared right in front of Amy. Now Shadow got in HIS face.

"Excuse her mouth; she doesn't know what she's saying." He glanced at Amy.

"WHAT?! I knew exactly what I was-" She broke off when she saw Shadow's face, and realized that she should stop.

"Bring on the next dream sequence already. Or you'll lose your control over me." Shadow's voice seemed to be an attempt of intimidation.

"Is that a threat?"

"Maybe it is. You tell me."

"Very well; if you INSIST."

…And everything faded…


	11. Roses

"Shadow." Amy turned his face, her emerald green eyes piercing into his crimson ones. "Do you remember your- Death's- dreams after they happen?"

"Sometimes… Everything's blurry, 'tho. I can't remember anything but MIRRORS right now."

"Do you think that you'll forget them eventually?" She inquired.

"… Maybe. I dunno. Why do you ask?" He wondered.

"I dunno…" She looked down. "So, how are we gonna stop this? What next?"

Shadow didn't answer. Instead he sighed. Then he noticed their surroundings. "A rose garden?"

They were, indeed, in a rose garden. It was almost medieval in style. They stood on a balcony of white faded limestone, and the railings on the sides of the path had roses growing along them. It led to a small tower of the same colored stone which overlooked the mountain upon which it was fixed. Over the ledge on one side was a waterfall that cascaded down into a crystal blue ocean. On the other were more rose bushes and other delicate flowers. The roses were spectacular; the most stunning of all the blossoms. The majority of them were red, but any vibrant color of bloom could be found. The roses were overgrown like vines on the walls and up the tower.

"It's… breathtaking." Amy's hand made its way to a petal. Soft. Smooth. Perfect.

Shadow smirked. "Rose. Ha." He reached for one as well.

"Ah-!" Amy pulled her hand back suddenly. A spine had punctured through her glove and cut her.

"Yet every rose- however beautiful- has its thorn. You OK?" He put a hand on her arm.

Amy laughed. "Yeah. I'm gonna be the death of me." She noticed a bit of blood, but wiped it away before Shadow could see. As a result to Amy's quip, a larger amount of air than normal pushed thru Shadow's nose. Was that… a laugh? A chuckle? Is it possible? Naw… Imagination playing tricks on her…

"Yeah, I wouldn't get too cozy quite yet." Shadow just then remembered the creatures in the mirrors.

As if Shadow's words were an activation code, the roses began to seem darker. More thorns broke out of the stems. The vibrant colors seeped- literally dripped- off of the flowers like wet paint, revealing a midnight black. The rose that had sliced Amy seemed to absorb the blood that had dripped down. A crimson color swirled and twisted around in it, and a red 'sap' filled up the vines like cranberry juice up a straw. This continued until all of the roses were midnight with crimson streaks.

"The irony!" Shadow yelled as the once friendly flowers grew vast in size. "Ruunnn!"

The two turned and ran for the tower. All foliage was to be avoided, which was difficult because it had grown everywhere. They reached the tower OK, but the entry way was being taken over by roses. Turning, Shadow saw that the back windows were too. So the only exit was jumping off a cliff into a huge waterfall. Without thinking, he grabbed Amy, closed his eyes, and jumped.

Amy's eyes were squeezed shut as well. As the sound of rushing water grew closer, she was pretty sure that it was moving much faster than before. There was a loud crashing noise of their bodies impacting the water, and then they were swept away. "Shad-!" Amy was pulled under from the current. She only was able to grab an occasional breath, before being pulled under by an invisible force.

"Am-" Shadow felt a sharp object- probably a rock- stab his leg under the surface. His foot was caught, and he was being pulled down. He struggled, and, with great pain, released his appendage; then immediately went propelling downhill. Everything was a blur, but he was pretty sure that there was red blurred thru the water.

He grasped onto anything he felt, but the current was too strong, and he ended up with more cuts in his hands. Now all he felt was a burning feeling in his lungs. He couldn't reach the surface. Ultimate Life Form or not, he had been deprived of air for much too long. Now the only thing that mattered was to breathe. His lungs were on fire, yet the water that engulfed him could not douse it out, but only worsen it. Oxygen was his only goal. The one thing that mattered… His body let go, and everything turned black as he hit bottom.


	12. Sand in an Hourglass

"-And I really think that I should've been more useful. I know that you wouldn't want me to get in the way, but I have a mallet twice the size of your head, and I think that it could come in handy.

'Cause I'd hate for you to… for you to… because I didn't…" Amy stopped. "But nevermind that. I'll have to find something to eat for when you come to, 'cause I think we're both hungry! That was a big dip, and I'm always hungry after swimming!"

"Hmm…" Shadow held his head and attempted to sit up; although he presently saw stars and decided to lie down again.

"Oh, Shad, you're awake!" Amy hopped over to him.

"…Shad?" He wondered. The black hedgehog noticed bandages- stained red- wrapped around his hands.

"Oh… uh… yeah… I didn't…" Amy smacked herself inside. "I… um…" She cleared her throat, making up a reason for shortening his name. "I've decided to call you Shad. Twice now I've called out your name, but been interrupted, and it came out 'Shad'. So I'm gonna call you that sometimes."

"O… K?" Shadow noticed sand under his quills. "Where are we?"

"Some beach, I guess. I woke up on the shore, but you weren't there. I swam underwater for awhile and found you at the bottom. I think your extra-special super-power-ey body went into a stand-by mode thingy." Amy answered.

"…Huh." Again, Shadow ignored his throbbing head and tried to sit up.

"Oooooooh-K, if you're gonna try n' sit up, you should rest your head on a tree or somethin'. I dunno WHAT you did, but your head got hit HARD by something, and somethin' ELSE left a huge gash in yer leg. I think you should take it EASY." Amy gestured to his leg. White cloth with red seeping through. "Speakin' of which, I should change your bandages… Yuck, there's a lot of blood…"

Shadow opened his mouth to ask where the cloth came from, but noticed small patches of missing fabric from Amy's dress, socks, and gloves, and closed it. "I have gloves and socks too, y'know."

"Yeah, but it'd be rude to rip 'em up without asking." Amy pointed out. They looked at each other for a moment, and began to laugh. Yes, Shadow full-out laughed! How did they get here? How had it come to this?

"I suppose it would've been. But they are MY injuries. Besides, you're cut up too." Shadow nodded at Amy's hands.

"Eh, it's nothing." She tried to wipe it away, but Shadow could tell that she had just as many cuts on her palms as he had on his own.

"You're gonna get an infection." Shadow stopped her arms from moving about. He gently flipped over her hands, took the piece of cloth that was originally meant for him, and began to wrap it around her wounds.

"Shadow…" Amy looked unhappy, but she didn't stop him from helping her well-being. She did admit that it was painful.

"There. Now we're almost even." Shadow sat back a little.

"Almost even?! YOU saved me from the fake Mobotropolis. YOU deciphered which Amy was which and saved me. YOU led me away from the evil-rose-things. YOU'RE the hero here, Shadow the Hedgehog." Amy put her hands on her hips.

"Almost even. YOU helped ME decipher which Amy was the real one by the singing in fake Mobotropolis. YOU saved me from drowning and patched up my wounds. I'M the one who was mentally unstable, AND who brought us into this mess. If I'M the hero, then you're just as much of one and more, Amy Rose." He countered.

"Shadow… You WEREN'T mentally unstable, just disturbed from the nightmares. By Death's manipulation. And it's not your fault that we're here. You can't help what Black Death has done. He's got special-mental-dream-power-things. It's NOT your fault." Amy almost whispered.

" 'Special-mental-dream-power-things', eh? What about my 'extra-special super-power-ey body'?" Shadow frowned.

"Shadow, I don't mean-"

"No, you're right. I've been off my guard. I should've noticed how strange it was to suddenly have such terrible dreams for no apparent reason. But instead I felt sorry for myself and ignored all the clues. It IS my fault."

"Shadow, stop blaming yourself! It's. Not. Your. Fault. We need you at the top of your game right now! Blaming yourself and losing confidence DOESN'T help us! If it makes you feel any better, I'll let you pout ALL you want after this is over." Amy looked close to tears.

"Amy, don't you see? What if this never ends? What if it's never over?" She did see. She had seen. It was the truth. The truth that Amy had been avoiding. She didn't want to think about it, but it was probably true. Whether it went on until Shadow turned evil, like Death vowed, or until they died, or went insane, or whatever else, it would not end pretty. There was no way out. All Amy wanted was it to stop. To be with the Freedom Fighters. At the wedding, even on a mission… With Sonic. It was all so creepy. And maddening. She just wanted home. New Mobotropolis. Mercia. Wherever. Home… A few tears escaped her eyes.

She nodded, trying to stop her tears although it was useless. "I just want it to end," She cried. "I wanna be home! On Mobius! Northamer! New Mobotropolis! I don't care if it's at the stupid wedding; I just wanna be home! Y'know what?! I don't even care if we're on the Death Egg fighting Robotnik! I just want to NOT BE HERE!" She found herself sobbing on Shadow's shoulder, but didn't care.

Shadow had always hated crying. He hated it when other people cried, because he hated that they were in pain and that he couldn't fix it. He was created to help. To fix. Yet he was filled with so much hate. It was always the worst when Maria cried. She was- had been- a very brave girl, but everyone cries sometime. Now Amy was weeping in his arms and he had no idea what to do. Sometimes he forgot that she was still eleven years old and afraid. Oh so afraid.

"Hey. Look at me." Shadow ordered. She did, sniffling. "If I'm gonna be at the top of my game, then so are you. If we work together, if we fight harder, if we fight smarter, then we'll be back home in fifteen minutes. So what I need you to do is smile."

Amy did, weakly. "O-O-OK, Shadow."

"Hey; what happened to Shad?" He smirked.

"OK, Shad!" She laughed, and he smiled. "Y'know something?"

"What?"

"You've started smiling more." She grinned.

"Have I?" He folded his arms, although Amy was pretty sure that she tasted mockery.

"Yes. Yes you have." She tried to look formal.

Shadow pulled a straight face. "REALLLLLY now?"

"Oh, stop it!" She gave him a light push.

"Fine, fine." He smirked again, then was somber. "But, seriously, we should get up and check out the island… thing."

"Yeah… yeah." She stood up. "Are you sure that you can make it? You got hurt real bad… er… really badly…"

"I'm FINE." He rose, but quickly grabbed hold of a tree for reinforcement.

"Uh-HUH. Suuure you are." Amy wrapped a supportive arm around him.

Instantly, the ocean around them drained downwards like water in a tub, and the sand fell as if in an hourglass. The two cried out and grabbed for a tree. The sand fell, and so did they. Then the world flipped over, and they WERE in an hourglass. The trees and water had disappeared, but the sand hadn't.

"CHAOS SPEAR!" The glass shattered, and the two got out, avoiding shards of glass as they literally swum through sand.

"Sorry that I had to cut it short you two, but TIME was RUNNING OUT." Black Death's voice appeared as their surroundings did the opposite.

"Very funny." Shadow held another Chaos Spear in his hand.

"Your next test will be a little more… Trying." Death's hand reached out of the dark and grabbed Amy. It was enormous, because Shadow and Amy were still the size that they had been in in the hourglass.

"SHAD!" Amy shrieked, reaching out. She kicked and struggled, but she was trapped.

"YOU LET HER DOWN!" Shadow yelled.

"OK." Death dropped her.

"AMY!" Shadow ran under her to catch her, but Death snatched her up again.

"Just kidding."

"ARGH! COME HERE AND FIGHT ME!" Shadow threw Chaos Spears at Death, but he absorbed them.

"No! Shad! Don't!" Amy cried. "He'll hurt you!"

"I'll be OK!" He promised. "And so will you!"

"Alright, Shadow, that's enough. I know the way to break you. But for now, you work for me, or she dies." Black Death squeezed his hand tighter.

"N-no Shad-!" She stopped, attempting to breathe. "D-don't!"

"STOP!" Shadow screamed, but there was nothing he could do.

"TURN!" Death ordered.

"NO!" Amy cried.

"TURN!"

"DON'T!"

"TURN!"

Shadow looked like he had made a decision. "…STOP! I've… I've had time to think about this. I… I know what I have to do."


	13. Energies

"…STOP! I've… I've had time to think about this. I… I know what I have to do." The room was silent, and his speech echoed around in the darkness.

"Shadow don't-!" Her words were muffled as her mouth was covered. Death instantaneously dropped her. Shadow immediately ran under and caught her. The Black Arm leader was then in Shadow's face, down to his size. Whether Death was now small or Shadow had grown, the hedgehog didn't know.

"Really? Are you willing to go that far?" He blinked. In turn, Shadow's fist shot out and hit Death straight in the eyes.

"ARGH-!" Black Death sent out Chaos Spears clumsily as he lashed out in the darkness, but the attacks did not hit the Mobians.

"CHAOS… CONTROL!" Shadow yelled. With Death occupied; maybe, just maybe… "AH-!" The Chaos Control failed, and hurt Shadow severely.

"SHADOW!" Amy had held onto him as he tried to teleport, but was not harmed. He was already hurt… "Are you OK?!"

"Y…yeah…" Shadow coughed, his arm wrapped around Amy's back. "Ugh… that… should've worked…"

"OK, Shadow. If this is the way you want it… This is the way you'll get it." Death floated over Amy and her patient.

"No! Don't! He's already hurt enough! Don't you believe in a little chivalry?!" She cried.

"Chivalry is unnecessary." Death warped the world around, and Amy was far away from Shadow.

"NO!" She tried to run towards him, but it was too late.

"Wha…?" Shadow looked up and saw Death's new method of torture.

"It's an energy drainer, to put it simply. I'm quite proud of it. Judging by the state you're in, I'd say… five minutes, and you'll be aging like any old Mobian. Ten minutes, all your lifeless body will be able to do is breathe. Fifteen… well, you get the idea."

"I've-" Shadow stopped, coughing. "I've had… a little trouble… with breathing lately."

Black Death laughed, but it was nothing like the laugh that Shadow and Amy had shared earlier. "Yes, you have. It's a pity you angered me, Shadow. You would've made a great comic relief for us uptight Black Arms."

Meanwhile, Amy had been creeping closer and closer behind the energy drainer. Her plan? In short… SMASH (before Death could use it). But when Death tsked his tongue, she knew that her scheme would not work. "Not so fast, ROSE." A small energy field appeared around her. "How about this… Shadow's drained energy powers your prison?"

"No; PLEASE!"

"I thought so." Death, in complete control of the dream world, snapped his fingers, and Shadow was hooked up to the machine with no way to break free. He struggled, and the braces tightened. The machine began to power up. "Oh, and one more thing that you MIGHT want to know… It HURTS."

"SHAD!" Amy shrieked as Shadow screamed in pain. She saw that his energy, indeed, was powering the forcefield around her. She began to smash her hammer against the 'field.

"It won't do you any good." Death's voice was raised so Amy could hear him over Shadow's cries.

"ARGH!" She tried harder, but Death spoke the truth for once. It WAS useless. [IT'S NO USE!] "Why can't I have a connection to the Chaos Force like Shadow or Sonic or Knuckles or Tails?! Then I'd actually be USEFUL!" She screamed, bashing her hammer against the barrier until she tripped and fell backwards.

"You're about to age like a normal Mobian. Oh, whoops, there goes your 'Ultimate Life Form'." Death taunted.

"NO!" Amy got back up, but she couldn't do anything.

The machine stopped for a moment, and Death came up to Shadow, forcing the hedgehog to look him in the eye. Shadow moaned. "Interesting…" Death observed his behaviors.

Shadow's eyes snapped open abruptly, and his head flew up to face his enemy. "What did you do to me?"

"That… was unexpected." Death was almost amused by Shadow's sudden burst of strength.

"Tell. Me." Shadow ordered.

"I'm just draining your energy."

"Oh. OK. Carry on, then." His head dropped, and he cringed, readying himself for the oncoming pain. But as Death reached for the switch, there was something that made him pause.

"Don't. You. DARE. Touch. That. Button." Amy held her hammer up threateningly.

"Is that… Are you trying to intimidate me? A ten-year-old with a mallet?"

"I'M ELEVEN! And I'm PHYSICALLY sixteen!" Amy declared proudly.

"How did you escape my forcefield?!" He questioned.

"It's not so scary when it's got no power!" Amy gestured towards the contraption in which Shadow was entwined. "It's not hard to escape a forcefield that isn't there."

"Oh. Right." Death seemed to have forgotten that. "Y'know, I could lock you up again whenever I wanted to… But I want to see what you've got in you."

"No… Don't…" Shadow again tried to escape his bonds, but failed.

"All right then! Come at me, bro!" Amy grinned.

"Amy-!" Shadow tried with no avail.

"Very well then. Chaos Spear." With seemingly no effort from her enemy, Amy was surrounded by countless beams of energy instantly.

"Ah-!" She began blocking them with her hammer. She needed to free Shadow. He would probably have a plan, or develop one on the run. But she was busy with fighting Death! Again, she wished for a Chaos powers; specifically the Chaos Spear.

Shadow was weak. He knew what was going on. It was still processing. Yet… He was dreaming. It was just another nightmare. He would wake up, and it he would be back with the United Federation. G. U. N. would contact him- probably through Rouge- and he would have a mission. It would be an ordinary day. Or perhaps going to New Mobotropolis wasn't part of his dream. Why had he gone there again? It was blurry. Maybe this was a dream that had come after the Maria nightmares. He would wake up soon, and the pain would go away. It hurt to breathe. His chest expanded and contracted with agony.

"Just one, Shadow. Just one Chaos Spear." He told himself. "Then you'll regain some strength…" He heard Amy cry out; she couldn't dodge her opponent forever. Poor, sweet Amy. She didn't deserve any of this. She should've been back in the city, chasing after Sonic, oblivious to Shadow's anguish. Oh, why had he spent so much time with her?! Why had he become her friend?! If he hadn't, then Death probably wouldn't have brought her into this mess. That is, if it really WAS happening, and wasn't all part of Shadow's imagination.

Suddenly, Shadow was filled with rage. She didn't deserve this! She had gone through a lot for her age, but she still had a life ahead of her! Then he remembered his realization in the snow. Last time, he promised. Now, he couldn't. "Amy… WILL… survive…" He vowed. Then, in a last effort, he breathed: "Ch… Chaos Spear." A green-gold fragment of energy collided with the bonds that held Shadow down. He fell out of the machine, gasping for air. So it HAD been holding back his breaths, even though it wasn't running.

"Death…" Shadow looked up, pushing himself to a wobbly standing position. He glanced at his wrists. "Why don't you fight someone your own size." There was a flash of light, and one, two rings clinked, falling onto the ground.

"Wha- NO!" Death instantly forgot about fighting Amy.

"Stand back if you know what's good for you!" Shadow gave a sharp momentary stare at Amy as he warned her, but his eyes quickly returned to Death. "CHAOS…"

"NO! NO! NO!" Death began to warp the world in an escape attempt, but it was too late.

"-BBBLLLAAASSSTTT!"


	14. Shattered Dreams

[I'm not dead! Hello! I'm back!]

Heavy eyelids opened. "Shadow…"

Blurred voices became sharper. "-And right now there's a giant Black Comet falling from the sky, destined to hit the planet _PRETTY SOON_. So DON'T tell me that a few scratches are important!"

The images became clearer. "Shad…?" She strained. She could tell that her voice was just a murmur, unable to be heard over the raised voices.

"But-"

"Chaos Emeralds. Special Zone, right? Are the other five all there, 'cause we're gonna need 'em!"

The other figure shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Only two are the 'zone. Two missing. One in Eggy's hands. With the two in G.U.N.'s control, that gives us four, mayyybe five if the Eggmeister will cooperate in time."

"S-s-sonic?" Amy's hand trembled violently, and her arm began to raise towards the two figures.

"Amy!" Shadow turned, followed by Sonic. Both ran over to her. She couldn't feel anything down past her waist. Sonic's face held mixed emotions, as did Shadow's. Sonic's held worry and confusion. Shadow's was not as easy to read. Worry, yes. Pain, both physical and emotional. Self-blame…? Agony. Anger. His face was covered in scrapes; his arms and legs with bloody, ripped bandages. Anguish, far behind those masked eyes. Her quivering fingers touched a blood-stained scar that had streaked across his face.

"Are you… Can you… Are you…?" Sonic stammered while Shadow remained silent.

He stood. "I promised to protect this planet. I promised that she would make it out alive. Now I promise that that Comet will never touch the surface of this world. I promised…" He turned, and had to stop. His hand brushed across the blanket that covered Amy. "I promise." He looked straight ahead. Sonic rose, slowly.

"Do you have a plan, Shadow?" He asked.

"Heh. Maybe." Shadow's hands grasped onto the bed frame. Then he braced himself.

"Shadow; what are you doing…?" Sonic looked uncertain.

"You'll see…" And with that, Shadow began to scream in pain just as he had in the earlier dream state.

"Shadow… No…" Water formed in Amy's eyes. She strained, but could not move.

"SHADOW?! WHAT THE-" Sonic ran his fingers through his quills. "WH-WHAT ARE YOU- STOP!"

Suddenly, he _did_ stop. Shaking, face lifeless, he fell to his knees. He shook more than Amy had. He gasped. "I r-really n-n-need ttto st-stop doing-g thisss…"

"Wh-what? Doing what?" Sonic was distraught, having no idea what just happened and no idea of how to help.

"Stam-m-merrring… Unable t-t-to breathe… Intense p-pain…" Shadow coughed.

"Wh-what just happened?! What did you DO?!" Sonic demanded.

"Basically... I tried to take over the Hivemind."

"OOOHH-K; no more executing plans before discussing them, got it?" Sonic helped the ebony hedgehog to a standing position.

"Hmph." Shadow smirked, regaining energy.

"S-s-shadow…" Amy whispered. "Wh… Why?"

"We've got to stop it somehow." Shadow set his jaw.

"But by taking over the Hivemind? REALLY?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"No reason to question it now. What's done is done… Look, we need a nuke or a giant Chaos Control. Otherwise, I'm out of ideas."

"Except that nukes don't exactly grow on trees, and we don't have enough Emeralds to cause the kind of Chaos Control we need, like the one that we caused back on the A.R.K." Sonic shrugged.

"Where's… every… one… else…?" Amy murmured.

"What?" Sonic turned.

"Every… one… th-the… Freedom… Fighters…"

Sonic's face almost distorted. "Freedom… Fighters…?"

Instantaneously, the world shattered. Literally. Like glass, the image of the room was suddenly in a million pieces. Each one reflected its original colors, as well as her own face. She shrieked. Behind the shattering was darkness. Nothing but black. And it dawned on her: another dream state. Except that this time, Shadow wasn't with her. He was in the shattered glass. Whether it really was a reflection of him, or he was really _gone_; she was alone.


End file.
